11/11/2019
RESPONSE REGARDING THE INCIDENT AT THE UNICORN 10/11/19
First of all I want to say thank you to every single person that played, all bands were fantastic, and thank you everyone who came down to support.
I can’t apologise enough for what happened regarding the bar manager / sound engineer. To use violence at a anti violence charity fundraiser is absolutely disgusting and unacceptable. I understand that the bar manager has since apologised HOWEVER, as I said to him in person - I feel his apology was not sincere in the slightest and was only made in an attempt to cover his tracks. There is CCTV outside the front of the unicorn which needs to be monitored to see what actually happened but I can tell you from PERSONALLY witnessing with my own eyes that “bar manager” shoved Karl to the floor whilst he had his bass on his back. The act of aggression was completely unnecessary as the situation was being handled and defused after they were told to leave. I can’t comment on what was said as I was not there to hear it but it still will not justify using violence as a response. Working in pubs myself you are taught conflict management and put under training on how to handle difficult situations. Adding fuel to fire is never going to resurrect a problem. As well as being completely unprofessional, it also reflects a badly managed bar.
I don’t want to tarnish any other promotors that use The Unicorn as a venue as I feel everyone has had different experiences there. But I can say that I will not be attending any shows in the future whilst The Unicorn is under this management & uses that sound engineer.
Not only did it completely destroy what was a good evening, but also completely disrespectful towards myself, the bands playing & the fundraising cause.
If there weren’t 2 bands left on the bill I would’ve been happy to shut the gig down. However I felt it was unfair on them and everyone who stayed to completely destroy what was left of the evening.
I hope this is coherent enough to clear up what happened - and again thank all the bands for taking part & to everyone who donated money / products.
Again - just to reiterate - I in NO WAY want to tarnish / ruin any professional relationships with any other promotors because of this incident.
- Amelia / Cigarette Pie x
